Bihar: Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Rohini Acharya booked for post-poll violence in Saran
One man was killed and three others were injured when supporters of the Opposition party and the BJP clashed on Tuesday.
The Bihar Police on Thursday registered a first information report against the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Saran Lok Sabha candidate Rohini Acharya in connection with the post-poll violence that took place in the constituency on May 21, reported The Indian Express.
Acharya, daughter of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, contested the Lok Sabha polls against Bharatiya Janata Party MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
One man was killed and three others were injured when supporters of the two parties clashed in the Bada Telma area near Bhikhari Thakur Chowk over alleged irregularities during polling in the region.
Acharya has been booked for undue influence during elections, wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation, among other provisions, reported The Hindu.
The first information report was filed on a complaint by a BJP worker named Manoj Kumar.
The complaint alleged that Acharya and 50 others were involved in “illegal activities by trying to influence voters and later provoking violence between two caste groups”, Saran Superintendent of Police Gaurav Mangla told The Indian Express.
He said that additional security forces were deployed near the site of the violence to prevent any further clashes.
On Monday, when voting was taking place in Saran constituency, Acharya had visited a booth at Bhikhari Thakur Chowk to inspect the polling process. The Opposition leader told reporters on Tuesday that she had asked one of the BJP workers at the polling booth to leave if he had cast his vote.
This triggered an argument between Acharya and BJP supporters. “Soon after that these BJP goons started verbally abusing me and also brought batons and bamboo sticks to attack me,” the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader told PTI on Tuesday.
After the incident on Monday, workers of the BJP and the Opposition party clashed, resulting in the death of a 25-year-old man, Chandan Yadav. Rudy said that shots were fired amid the violence in self-defence, reported The Indian Express.
The police have arrested two persons in the case so far.